All I would add to you Stewart is that untill I was willing to accept my behaviour of that of an alcoholic then inevitably I ended up back to square one again. I have no control when i drink booze and thus when i would end up drinking again then I would wake up after blacking out again. I came to realise that this would always be the case with me and drinking. Once that invisible line is crossed then there isn't any turning back into controlled drinking in my experince, not that I ever drank sensibly anyway or ever wanted to, it ain't in my makeup to drink sensibly and civilised. Screw that.
Knowing I am an alcoholic stops me from picking that first drink up, as being young in UK, then without acceptance that I am an alcoholic then it's pretty unlikely that i wouldn't eventually take that first drink again, and then *BAM*, back to square one again. You see what I mean? So far from being a negative, actually admitting I am an alcoholic enables me to live life sober as it reafirms to me everyday why I must not take that first drink like all of those other smiley, happy people.
All The Best Mate.